No challenges requiring NATO activity in Arctic but Russia is ready for any scenarios - Foreign ministry

June 23 2015

Interfax

Interfax

Moscow does not see any threats in the Arctic requiring the use of force but it is prepared to use its available potential to respond to any new turn of events, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"Currently, there are no challenges in the Arctic region that could have a military nature and require military solutions, especially acceleration of NATO activity in the Extreme North and involvement of non-aligned countries in it," says a report posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website after a meeting of the Ministry Board chaired by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

"However, Russia is prepared to respond to a new situation, possessing relevant potential to provide national security interests," the ministry said.

In addition, during the meeting "the Board noted that, given the attempts of the West to bring elements of confrontation to the region, it was important to continue to counteract this policy with a course towards the development of constructive international cooperation in the Arctic and resolute opposition to its politicization," it said.

"In the interests of stability in the region, collective approaches to the solution of problems shared by all Arctic states should be fostered. The role of the Arctic Council was singled out in the formation of a constructive agenda for the development of multilateral interaction in the Arctic," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

Additionally, "the Board emphasized the need for full use in the Arctic of the opportunities offered by international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, to provide national interests of the Russian Federation as a littoral state, including the right to expand the external border of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean," it said.